When it comes to fashion power struggles, there is no bigger battle than the battle between baggy jeans and skinny jeans. But is a new style emerging or is it an old style?
Goldilocks jeans, or straight cuts, are back. Think Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor rather than Jeremy Clarkson’s bootcut Top Gear days or the painted pipsqueezers of indie bands.
Menswear writer Leon Hedgepeth, who coined the term Goldilocks jeans, explains: Just the right style, not too skinny or too baggy.
Levi’s best-selling jeans of all time, worn by everyone from Marlon Brando to Steve Jobs and Kate Moss, the 501 is the ultimate expression of form.
Anne-Catherine Lepas, vice president of merchandising at Levi’s Europe, says the brand defines straight cuts like the 501 as flowing evenly from hip to ankle, “creating a clean, natural look that suits almost everyone.”
Sales of John Lewis’ straight-cut jeans are up 30% year-on-year, with top sellers including a £260 pair of jeans from US brand Frame. On Thursday, the British department store chain launched a collaboration with designer Rejina Pyo. The fluffy cropped jacket is expected to be the collection’s most popular item, while straight-cut jeans in a dark blue wash are soaring to the top of the sales charts.
Six years after Marks & Spencer launched Sienna straight cut jeans, they have once again become a best-selling style elsewhere on the high street. Newer versions of the stovepipe, which have a higher waist and less elastane to allow them to hang more upright with less elasticity, are also in high demand.
This shift toward normalization signals consumers’ growing fatigue with the fashion trend cycle. Micro-trends originating on social media, such as “Barbiecore” and “cottagecore”, often with the suffix “-core”, have further accelerated this change and left some shoppers feeling constantly overwhelmed.
As a result, some consumers are hard-resetting their wardrobes by going back to timeless basics. So the boom boom is reduced and the bore is larger. Jeans like the 501s, which originated in 1873 and were commonly worn by miners, fill this need. On Friday, Levi’s reported that sales rose 7% to $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) during its third fiscal quarter.
Kay Barron, fashion director and author of How to Wear Everything, says that even though the 501 has been around for more than 150 years, “the straight legs and high enough waist have remained consistent, and wearers have committed to it because they are always working.” You can also buy them second-hand, which may appeal to more conscious shoppers.
Elsewhere, when Vogue revealed Chloe Malle would be its new head of editorial content, the 39-year-old wore “regular” jeans in a photo accompanying the announcement.
And it’s not just women. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer prefers darker colored washes and sneakers. Meanwhile, designer Jonathan Anderson stuck to his signature style of vintage Levi’s as he took bows following his Dior womenswear debut at Paris Fashion Week. He’s also included a pair of norms in his collaboration with Uniqlo, which is set to drop next week.
Along with trend fatigue, Hedgepeth believes ’90s nostalgia and economic uncertainty are responsible for sparking interest in plain denim. “The sluggish economy is making everyone think twice before dropping £500 on novelty trousers. Straight leg jeans are the antidote. They’re timeless, unfussy and a safe bet that won’t make you regret not joining the next skinny v baggy denim war.”